| Erragal | |
|---|---|
Storm god, apotropaic astral deity | |
| Other names | Errakal |
| Major cult center | Me-Turan,Nippur |
| Genealogy | |
| Spouse | Ninšar |
Erragal orErrakal was aMesopotamian god presumed to be related toErra. However, there is no agreement about the nature of the connection between them inAssyriology. While Erragal might have been associated with storms and the destruction caused by them, he is chiefly attested as a benevolent deity, for example as an astral god withapotropaic functions. He was regarded as the husband of the goddessNinšar, the divine butcher ofEkur, and they could be represented as a pair of stars inastronomical treatises such asMUL.APIN. References to worship of Erragal are uncommon, though he nonetheless appears in a variety of sources from theIsin-Larsa period toNeo-Babylonian times. He also appears in theEpic of Gilgamesh and inAtra-Hasis as a deity linked to thegreat flood.
Erragal's name isetymologically related to that ofErra[1] and it has been suggested that it can be translated as "the great Erra".[2] The shortertheonym in turn goes back to therootḥrr, possibly "scorching", which is attested in variousSemitic languages, includingAkkadian.[3] It has been argued that Erragal and Erra were identical with each other due to equations between them postdating theOld Babylonian period,[4] or that Erragal was a "fusionhypostasis" of Erra andNergal, comparable to double theonyms designating a single deity common inUgaritic texts such asNikkal-wa-Ib,Kothar-wa-Khasis orQudšu-wa-Amrur,[5] but according to Frans Wiggermann Erragal's role in theMesopotamian pantheon was distinct and he should be considered a separate god in origin, rather than just a form of Erra.[6] This is also accepted as a possibility by Frank Simons.[7] However, Kynthia Taylor disagrees with Wiggermann and argues that due to the proximity of these two deities in god lists and the fact that Erragal is well attested in texts written in theEmesal dialect ofSumerian it is plausible they developed under similar circumstances, with Erragal originally being anepithet applied to Erra in Emesal texts which eventually came to be viewed as a separate figure.[8] Further related theonyms include Errakal, Errakalkal, Errakar and Erkal.[9] The first of them is presumed to functionally be a double of Erragal,[10] and based on distribution in known texts might represent anAkkadian spelling of the same name, following the well attested phenomenon of interchange betweenvoiced andvoicelessconsonants in Sumerianloanwords in this language.[8] The form Erragal can be found for example in the Old BabylonianWeidner god list and in a god list fromSusa, while Errakal occurs in laterAn = Anum (tablet VI, line 10)[4] as well as inAtra-Hasis and theEpic of Gilgamesh.[11]
It has been argued that Erragal was originally associated withstorms and with the destruction caused by them.[7] According to Nicla de Zorzi a passage in the section ofEnūma Anu Enlil focused on the weather can be translated as an omen pertaining to him, "Erragal will bring hard times to the land".[12] However, he is portrayed as a benevolent in most texts referencing him.[10] He functioned as an astral deity.[13] In the incantation seriesḪulbazizi ("Evil be gone!") he is invoked alongside thePleiades,Sirius andJupiter for apotropaic purposes.[14] He has also been described as a god linked to theunderworld.[15]
In the god listAn = Anum (tablet I, line 332) Erragal appears among the gods ofNippur as the husband ofNinšar, a goddess described as the butcher and cook ofEkur.[6] There is no indication that he was ever associated with the wife of Erra,Mami, instead.[7] According to the astronomical compendiumMUL.APIN, Erragal and Ninšar corresponded to two paired stars[16] located in the proximity of that associated with "Lamma, the messenger ofBaba", a part of aconstellation known as "She-Goat",[17] modernLyra.[18] It is presumed that the "star of Erragal" corresponds toZeta Lyrae.[19] Erragal and Ninšar were also collectively associated withnigkalagû, assumed to be eitherapotropaic bells[6] or a gong making a sound similar to thunder.[7] They also shared a connection to knives,[15] and in an explanation of a ritual they are collectively addressed as the "bearers of the bronze dagger".[6]
A bilingual edition of theWeidner god list fromEmar might equate Erragal withTarḫunna orTarḫunt, respectively theHittite andLuwian weather god, though the reasons behind this are uncertain.[20] It has been noted that the multilingual versions of this text are unlikely to be reliable sources of theological information.[21]
It has been suggested that the name of theGreek heroHeracles was derived from that of Erragal.[2] However, due toWalter Burkert's critical assessment of this proposal it is generally accepted that it rests on "uncommonly slippery grounds".[22]
References to Erragal in known sources are scarce.[1] Oldest certain attestations aretheophoric names from theIsin-Larsa period, such as KUG-Erragal and Puzur-Erragal; an older,Ur III name writtenÈr-ra-gal most likely should be read as Erra-rabi and does not invoke him.[23] AnOld Babylonian legal document of unknown provenance mentions him alongsideAdad of Šuḫatum, an otherwise entirely unknown settlement.[24] In other contemporary texts his attestations are largely limited to entries in god lists.[23]
AMiddle Assyrian text refers toMe-Turan (Sirara) as a cult center of Erragal, though his name might only be used as a stand-in forNergal in this context, as the latter is well attested in association with this city.[6] The rebuilding of Erragal'stemple located there is mentioned on a broken prism ofNinurta-tukulti-Ashur.[10]
A number of letters presumed to originate inBabylon and dated to either the last years of the reign ofEsarhaddon or the first ofAshurbanipal describes the repairs of statues of a number of deities apparently worshiped in this city, including Erragal, as well asUrash,Belet-ekalli,Šarrāḫītu,Zababa andLugal-Marada.[25] TheNippur Compendium, known fromNeo-Babylonian copies,[26] states that in this city Erragal was worshiped in the "outer court in the scepter" and in the temple of Nergal.[27] An inscription ofNabonidus from the so-calledEigikalama Cylinder[28] describes Erragal as "the most powerful among the gods" and credits him as one of the deities who bestowed kingship upon him.[29]
In both theEpic of Gilgamesh (tablet XI, line 102) and theNeo-Assyrian version ofAtra-Hasis, Erragal is responsible for "ripping out the mooring-poles" before theflood.[4] Frans Wiggermann tentatively suggests that this might be a wordplay involving the name Errakal and the termtarkullu.[6] It can be literally translated as "mooring pole", but metaphorically it could refer to connections between various elements of the universe.[30] Erragal's role in Mesopotamian literature is limited to these texts, but it has been argued that a reference to these two passages can be found in the mythErra andIshum (tablet IV, lines 118–120), where the first of the eponymous gods describes the destruction he is capable of causing:
Let me rip out the mooring-pole so that the ship keeps drifting away,
Let me break the rudder so it cannot dock at the shore,
Let me tear out the mast, let me rip out its rigging[31]
According to a recent publication by Elyze Zomer a further possible reference to Erragal in a similar context also occurs in the text HS 1885+ fromNippur, a "royal epic" (Königsepos) describing the conflict betweenGulkišar, the sixth king of theFirst Dynasty of Sealand, andSamsu-Ditana, with the former portrayed as the protagonist.[32]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)